Chapter Twenty-One: Puppet

“Why is it a person?”

“Wait, this person looks so familiar... It's the Crown Prince! The Crown Prince has returned! Quickly, carry him into the palace and report to the Black Chancellor at once!”

Lei Xiang heard every word clearly, but he did not open his eyes. As the pink mist was inhaled, he fell into a deep sleep. Upon awakening, he heard this strange, fragmented conversation.

“Crown Prince? Chancellor? Did I transmigrate again?”

Confronted with sudden upheaval, Lei Xiang remained calm and quietly decided to observe the situation.

At that moment, he focused inward, examining his own body. The Ten Thousand Demons Blood Curse had already dissolved in his veins, confirming that the Hundred-Fathom Saliva and the essence of the Three-Legged Frog had indeed taken effect. This brought him some peace of mind.

Suddenly, he felt two people lift him up. The group ascended a slope, turned a corner, then climbed what felt like endless stairs, until finally he was laid upon a bed.

After everyone left, Lei Xiang slowly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by dazzling splendor.

Golden roof, golden walls, golden curtains, even the tiles beneath his feet were golden.

“So this is truly the imperial palace?”

He sat up, stepped barefoot off the bed, and walked toward the door. A gust of wind swept in, bringing a man dressed in black who blocked his path.

“Your Highness, the wind outside is strong. Now that you have returned, please rest.”

The words were respectful, but the man’s demeanor betrayed no hint of reverence. He stared directly at Lei Xiang, as if waiting for him to issue an order.

Lei Xiang swept his spiritual sense over the man, and his heart tightened. This person possessed early Foundation Establishment cultivation, but the aura emanating from him was a hundred times more terrifying than Gao Tianchan. Moreover, Lei Xiang sensed an evil power lurking in this black-clad, plump man.

“Who are you? How dare you behave so rudely toward me?”

The black-clad man gazed at Lei Xiang for a quarter of an hour, then suddenly wiped his mouth with his fat hand, his tone turning flippant. “Well, young man, you’ve got some talent for acting—so quick to get into character? You really think you’re the Crown Prince.”

Lei Xiang’s expression remained unchanged. He replied coolly, “I’m simply cooperating with you. If you insist I play the Crown Prince, you must have your reasons.”

The black-clad man wiped his mouth again. “Talking to a clever person saves a lot of effort. It’s simple—I just want you to play the Crown Prince. I’ll arrange everything else. All you need to do is cooperate.”

Lei Xiang flashed his little tiger teeth in a smile. “That can’t be all, right? There ought to be benefits as well, or how could you win me over?”

The black-clad man looked at him in surprise. “You’re quite adorable, aren’t you? Of course there are benefits. If we succeed, you’ll receive a top-tier magic artifact and the national treasure of the Lihuo Kingdom—the Xuantian Lihuo Array. If you’re very obedient, I can guarantee you’ll succeed in Foundation Establishment.”

Lei Xiang frowned. This plump fellow seemed only a few years older than himself, yet he kept calling him ‘young man,’ which was rather irritating. But years of special training taught Lei Xiang when to endure, and with so many tempting rewards, it was only natural to be interested. So he agreed readily.

The black-clad man was overjoyed. “When the time comes, I’ll help you achieve Foundation Establishment. For now, here are the documents about Lihuo Kingdom and the Imperial Dynasty. Get familiar with them quickly.” As he spoke, he flicked his finger, sending a pink orb of light into Lei Xiang’s mind.

Lei Xiang sat quietly, scanning the information within his sea of consciousness. Suddenly, he spotted a pink symbol among the documents. It seemed familiar, but he couldn’t recall where he had seen it.

His multitasking ability came into play. While reviewing the documents, he split off a strand of consciousness to study the pink symbol.

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him. The symbol resembled the Binding Seal, though of a much lower grade, it was still a spell for sealing spiritual power.

Lei Xiang sneered inwardly and decided to turn the tables. Using a strand of his consciousness, he activated a partition in his sea of consciousness. Several yellow light barriers encircled the pink symbol, gradually tightening until they formed a thumb-sized orb, which he tossed into a corner of the partitioned sea. Then, with his own Binding Seal, he sealed two-thirds of his spiritual power, creating a false impression to fool his opponent, intending to lift the seal when necessary.

“Oh? My spiritual power suddenly decreased, and my cultivation has declined.”

As Lei Xiang cried out in feigned alarm, the black-clad man rushed in. Having finished reading the documents, Lei Xiang now knew this was the Black Chancellor of Lihuo Kingdom.

The Black Chancellor extended his plump hand and gripped Lei Xiang’s pulse. After a moment, he nodded. “Good. You now possess only the power of the fifth layer of Qi Refining. You won’t be able to stir up any trouble.”

“It was you? You tampered with my sea of consciousness.”

The Black Chancellor nodded again. “Our affairs are highly confidential. Only by restraining you can we be completely at ease. As for the seal in your body, only a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator can remove it. Don’t do anything foolish.”

Lei Xiang feigned outrage. “You… lack sincerity.”

The Black Chancellor wiped his mouth. “Young man, don’t be upset. The seal is temporary. Once we succeed, it will be lifted immediately. Your cultivation won’t drop—in fact, it will increase. Besides, marking you internally allows me to rescue you instantly if you’re ever in danger.”

“Heh, you’re also using it to monitor me.”

The Black Chancellor turned to leave. “No need to overthink. Familiarize yourself with the documents. I’ll see you in a few days.”

After he left, Lei Xiang tried to extend his spiritual sense, but it was forcefully repelled by the strong formation outside the room. This chamber was heavily restricted, which actually pleased Lei Xiang, as it meant the Black Chancellor wouldn’t bother assigning someone to monitor him.

He tossed out a beast-hide tent, covering the whole room, then added a Binding Seal so that no one’s spiritual sense could enter. Only then did he relax, using a spiritual incantation to touch his dantian, lifting the Binding Seal and restoring his cultivation to the thirteenth layer of Qi Refining.

He then took out the Big Dipper Pearl to determine his bearings, and released the map of the Boundless Continent from his sea of consciousness, comparing them carefully.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Lei Xiang put away the Big Dipper Pearl, stowed the map in his sea of consciousness, and sighed. “Where is Lihuo Kingdom? I searched the entire map and couldn’t find it. Is it, like Dongyue Kingdom, too small to be marked?”

He decided to wait until the Black Chancellor trusted him completely and granted him full freedom, then inquire about the location. For now, the most urgent task was to achieve Foundation Establishment, so he could use the foundational fire to forge magical artifacts. Lei Xiang’s meridians and energy sea were already as capacious as a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, but his spiritual energy was insufficient, and the local aura was extremely poor. He would need another method.

The Xuantian Lihuo Array!

This was the true reason Lei Xiang agreed to pose as the Crown Prince. When he heard about the Xuantian Lihuo Array, his heart stirred. If foundational fire was temporarily unavailable, perhaps he could borrow the array to forge magical artifacts.

If artifact forging wasn’t yet possible, he could start with talisman creation. With the lotus basin’s duplication function, the number of talismans could be multiplied, which would be a great advantage in battle. Having just advanced to the thirteenth layer, Lei Xiang felt new insights in talisman crafting.

Materials were plentiful. From the battle of the Purplewood Spirit Root and the Black Miasma Marsh, Lei Xiang had acquired countless beast hides. He shook his storage pouch, and dozens of hides of various sizes spilled out. With a wave, he unleashed a blue spiral of light, slicing through the floating hides. Then, with the rattan pen in hand, he activated the Treasure Mirror of Spirit Refinement, channeling spiritual power into the tip, swiftly and smoothly completing a talisman in one go.

He scrutinized the finished talisman for a long time, then sent an incantation into it and tossed it into the air. The talisman ascended, then exploded with a “pop,” scattering thousands of droplets to form an artificial rainfall.

But Lei Xiang shook his head—the Raincloud Talisman had failed.

This attempt was inspired by the Ice Spike Talisman, enhanced with flight control elements. Moreover, with the lingering Three-Legged Frog toxin in his body, he was intent on developing a mobile raincloud talisman. Once successful, he would add the frog’s toxin, creating a black poison rain.

Picking up the rattan pen again, Lei Xiang focused all his attention on the tip, merging the patterns of the Ice Spike Talisman and the Flight Talisman...

Two days passed. Faced with a floor strewn with failed talismans, Lei Xiang grinned, baring his little tiger teeth. He had finally developed the first Raincloud Talisman in the cultivation world.

Next was to infuse the Three-Legged Frog’s poison. Lei Xiang bit his index finger, squeezing out a drop of blood onto the rattan pen’s tip, then selected a third-grade beast hide to formally draw the raincloud talisman.

Just as he finished the talisman, his expression tightened. He drew out an empty storage pouch, which emitted a white light, collecting the scattered talisman materials. He then stowed the raincloud talisman and the rattan pen, resealed his spiritual power with the Binding Seal, and finally retrieved the beast-hide tent, sitting cross-legged to cultivate.

Fortunately, Lei Xiang had always kept a strand of consciousness monitoring his surroundings within a ten-yard radius; otherwise, if the Black Chancellor had seen all this, Lei Xiang’s secret would have been exposed.

The Black Chancellor entered swiftly, observing Lei Xiang closely. He had come for a surprise inspection, still uneasy about Lei Xiang.

Qi Refining level five, internal mark intact.

No flaws whatsoever. The Black Chancellor raised his hand and sent another pink orb of light into Lei Xiang’s mind, adding thousands more words: “Circumstances have changed. Tomorrow you will begin your life as Crown Prince. First, reassure the people at the morning court, then make a public appearance in the imperial city, finally issue an edict for a mass health inspection. This is your speech. Not a single word may be altered.”

Upon leaving, he lifted the restriction outside, which made Lei Xiang uneasy. He did not lift the internal seal, but quietly studied the new information.

After a long while, he withdrew his spiritual sense and sighed softly. It turned out Lihuo Kingdom was still within Dongyue Kingdom, merely in its most northern, inconspicuous corner. No wonder the place was so cold.

Why did Dongyue Kingdom allow another nation within its borders? Simple—because it didn’t know. Lihuo Kingdom was a secret existence, created solely to overthrow Dongyue’s rule.

Years ago, Dongyue Kingdom destroyed Lihuo Kingdom. Now, its loyal ministers hid in this wintry land, awaiting their chance to restore the kingdom. The Lihuo king was frail and bedridden, leaving only the Black Chancellor to assist the Crown Prince in governing. Three months ago, the Crown Prince vanished mysteriously, and Lihuo Kingdom was left leaderless.

Lei Xiang had stumbled in by chance, and by coincidence, his appearance was similar to the Crown Prince, prompting the Black Chancellor to use him as a stand-in.

Understanding this, Lei Xiang sneered inwardly. Clearly, the Black Chancellor was no benevolent figure. Making him a puppet must be part of some scheme.

“My true goal is the Xuantian Lihuo Array. Their power struggles have nothing to do with me.”